742 replies to this topic

[Udo]

Replied Bounce, pics sent on Facebook messanger as I've not sorted Photobucket or anything else out

[MrBounce]

This week has not been much fun. I have managed to get some things done, but others have made life - how shall we say - a touch difficult. I was very restrained and left the hammers on the tool wall.

 

The MX-5 runners do not fit on to the new seats. However, I have acquired the correct runners for them for a very reasonable price (cheers Ian!) and have given the seats a quick check for fit in the car. Lovely. Now I need to measure up to mount them - and also to raise them slightly on a frame so the runners will actually clear the carpet I haven't yet made.

 

The alternator is now on the engine and the fan belt has also been acquired and fitted. Nice and easy. I also took the time to sort out the heater pipes in the engine bay and also the grommets in the bulkhead. I had to do a bit of trimming and use a bit of right-angled hose I had kicking about but it's all gone together quite nicely.

 

And then we move on to bit that (almost) made me reach for the hammers. The rear lights. Anyone who's had to replace the gaskets on these will know just how much of a stupid design they are. The gaskets fail, and water then drips down on to the 3 (mild steel) studs on the bottom, rusting them and causing them to snap, breaking the built-in posts that hold them on the lenses. This is what had happened on mine. I then cleaned up the mess which was there, and Araldited in some new bolts to take their place. I then triumphantly fitted the rear lights which looked great. Unfortunately, when tightening up the nuts, there was the unmistakable sound of creaking and cracking under pressure. Within 5 minutes of tightening the nuts, 5 of the 6 "new" bolts had parted company with the lenses.

 

I am currently trying to thing of a way to rectify this situation without the use of fire. TR7 light lenses are not exactly common in good condition, with all the studs in the right places. 

 

MX-5 runners don't fit. However, new runners have arrived.

 

 

Seats look great in the car.

 

 

Lights looked good fitted...

 

 

...until this happened. Nuts.

 

[Mervyn]

http://www.screwfix....ear-290ml/3886j

Try a more flexible adhesive to glue in your studs, I highly rate 007 for loads of jobs, and it comes in clear too

Merv

[Udo]

Bounce,

 

Can you use a thin/neat bead of RTV or something to fix the gasket to the lense to hold it in place? bead of sealant gently press gasket into it let dry and then fit to car. Maybe combined with a more flexible glue as above?

 

Ian

[MrBounce]

Someone popped out of the garage for the first time in forever today  

 

[MrBounce]

I have to admit to being a bit a grump after the rear lights debacle, but I have sat down with various forums, friends and Facebookers and together we have come up with a solution. I really didn't want to drill through the lenses as they're pretty rare and I quite like to keep fixings hidden. The solution(s) have appeared to be relatively straightforward. I did have a spare left light lens, which had one of the three lower studs remaining, but also critically, the plastic fixings where the studs locate were still there, albeit cracked and split. I turned down some M5 bolts (read: cut and ground a bit with the Dremel!) then, using a plastic-specific epoxy, glued them into place. 2 days later, I fitted them and so far all seems to have worked well. 

 

The other lens does not have the plastic locating lugs, so I flattened down the heads of some crosshead M5 bolts, then used a nut and washer to make them the same height as the other studs. Using plasticine to surround the studs, I then filled the resulting gaps with epoxy. They are currently drying (they'll stay where they are for the whole weekend) but already it seems much stronger.

 

I turned my attention to the headlights next. My Midas uses Allegro headlights - and the ones I removed were somewhat...rough. Unfortunately there were two problems with replacing them: 1) Replacements are rarer than Unicorn Poop. 2) They're a bit rubbish. In my search for a suitable replacement I rejected Allegro units (could only find one - since sold), Triumph Acclaim (too expensive) and Bedford Rascal (despite what I was told, they're too big!). Instead I sourced 2 Austin Metro Van H4 units. Now, these have brackets on them which do not fit the Allegro surrounds but I am nothing if not resourceful. A little tickle with the Dremel saw them cut and ground off and they fit perfectly. I have since repainted the surrounds as one had been chipped in storage. I celebrated by fitting the headlight backplates to the car.

 

First of the two rear lights fitted, properly!

 

 

New Headlight, including unwanted bracketry.

 

 

Allegro surrounds fitted after surgery

 

 

Headlight backplates fitted

 

[blueovalcraig]

Looking good!

[MrBounce]

Been finding a few more little bits to do, so here's another little update. 

 

I repainted the petrol filler and fitted that, and turned my attention to the cap itself. It needed a good clean up, so I carefully took it apart. Ideally it needs a new seal, but these are unavailable, and as the cap is over a foot from the neck of the tank, I am going to chance it for now. If there's any need to change it in the future I will look at my options. I gave the plastic part of the cap a good clean then gave it a shot of primer. I had to do this twice as there was a minor reaction to the primer - possibly the washing-up liquid not being rinsed off enough? Anyway, this was sanded down and resprayed and the second coat worked. I made a "gasket" out of rubber sheet for the plastic to the metal part of the cap; the previous abomination was typical of the 70s BL parts bin as this is an early TR7 cap. I shall fit it all together once the new coat of satin black has dried.

 

I found the adjusters for the headlights in a box and found them in a bit of a sorry rusty state. Half an hour in the Bilt Hamber De-Ox gel and a good wire brushing had them looking much better. The worst one still has a little bit of rust on it, but considering how bad it looked before, it's actually a massive improvement. 

 

The RH Rear light has been adjusted and re-fitted, this time it's worked rather well. There are a few unavoidable Dremel marks on the inside of the lens but it will do for now. I know they're there and it does bug me a bit but until a good used lens comes up at a sensible price it can stay there. 

 

I have solved the Oil Cap clearance issue by simply buying a different one, and dare I say it it looks quite nice. I am not convinced by the colour but as painting it would be a massive ball ache that can wait.

 

I've also started sorting out the new front grill by cutting a new piece out and using epoxy (and several props) to fix the studs so it can be wingnutted into place. I am waiting on those to dry.

 

And finally, just as a bit of a morale-booster, I popped the headlights into their holes "just to see". Zippy's starting to look like a car again!

 

Petrol Filler loosely fitted.

 

 

New "gasket made for fuel cap innards to plastic outer. 

 

 

Cap in primer (take 2) - sorry for the rubbish photo!

 

 

Not so rusty headlight adjusters

 

 

RHS Rear light FINALLY fitted.

 

 

New Oil Cap, looking less "In your face" than the MG Metro item.

 

 

New grill mesh cut out and ready to go in

 

 

And Zippy has his face back!

 

[nicklouse]

errm your filler cap gasket. make sure it is modern petrol resistant or you will find it growing.

 

a tin rocker cover can give better clearance.

 

more so if you cut the neck off and weld a plate over.

[Midas Mk1]

Mg rocker boxes give plenty of clearance, my dads has his on his mk1 with various 998 / 1275+ through the years fine.

 

Love this project, sort of need to kick start the repaint of my Dads ready for 2018. 

Edited by Midas Mk1, 03 September 2017 - 04:37 PM.

[jonlad]

Really enjoy reading your updates, great work and thanks for sharing. Its great inspiration for the rest of us to crack on with our projects!

[MrBounce]

Mg rocker boxes give plenty of clearance, my dads has his on his mk1 with various 998 / 1275+ through the years fine.

 

Love this project, sort of need to kick start the repaint of my Dads ready for 2018. 

 

Must be because of the fact that everything is new or your Dad's bonnet is different. There is NO clearance on my car with the MG oil cap - it fouls. It's difficult for previous comparison as there was no engine fitted when I bought the car. And thanks for the encouragement 

 

errm your filler cap gasket. make sure it is modern petrol resistant or you will find it growing.

 

a tin rocker cover can give better clearance.

 

more so if you cut the neck off and weld a plate over.

Thanks for the advice Nick - I will check to see if it's petrol resistant and if not, I will change it for something that is. As for the tin rocker covers, ironically I didn't have one! Still, now it all fits (just!) I should be ok. 

 

Really enjoy reading your updates, great work and thanks for sharing. Its great inspiration for the rest of us to crack on with our projects!

Thank you Jon - glad I can offer some encouragement to all those with projects. Trust me - it's taken me a while and there have been some points where I'd have been happy to set the garage on fire... 

[MrBounce]

A few more jobs completed today, the first of which was the brake caliper bolts. I had received these via eBay and although the correct thread, they didn't look like the ones from the photo, and it was something that was bugging me. As a result I ordered the correct ones from Mini Spares and when they turned up, the difference was plain to see - different lengths of both thread and shoulder. So a quick couple of minutes with a ratchet and 9/16" socket saw them changed.

 

I rubbed down the sunroof surround and gave it a good shot of Satin Black to match the rest of the car's trim. I know it's going to be a pain in the butt to fit, and I'll also have to find a new seal for it, but I should be able to get it fitted fairly soon. I also finished off the petrol cap and put it on the car - mainly so I don't lose it!

 

i popped over to Tink's last night to help with his project, but also to use his "much better than mine" Mig welder. I needed to sort the brackets for the hatch struts as the original nuts were (quite badly) welded M8s and my stock of those was somewhat minimal. I lopped them off with the angry grinder and then zipped up a couple of 5/16"s in their place. I also had a bit of a problem with my Metro radiator. The old one had studs attached for the fan whereas the new one did not. I absolutely detest the zip-tie method of attaching the fan so that was definitely out. Using a bit of ingenuity we turned the welder right down and welded some studs (well bolts actually!) to the top and bottom of the rad. I then masked up the rad and gave it and the brackets a good coating of satin black.

 

Finally I have quickly thrown the grill into place and although it needs a little bit of fettling, overall it looks pretty good. More soon!

 

Massive difference between pattern parts and correct spec on the caliper bolts.

 

 

Sunroof surround now black. Looks MUCH better than bare aluminium.

 

 

Petrol Cap fitted. LOVE this thing.

 

 

Hatch strut brackets with newly "glued-on" UNF nuts.

 

 

New studs on radiator. 

 

 

Masked radiator and brackets now in black.

 

 

And finally, a first look at the grill. Me like!

 

Edited by MrBounce, 08 September 2017 - 07:00 PM.

[Ethel]

I've had both steel and MG covers, steel only on a small bore engine. Clearance is extremely close but the MG cover fits, the steel one needed the bonnet bulge for the off centre oil cap. There looks to be a fair bit of variation in Midas bodies tho'.

[MrBounce]

Well I've done a tiny little bit more, just to keep my foot in as it were.

 

The strut brackets have been finished, painted and fitted to the car. Before I put the radiator in (which I haven't yet), I needed to look at where the oil cooler was going to sit. As there's precious little room anywhere on these cars, it's going to go just behind and slightly to the right hand side of the radiator, sitting above the front subframe mount. As such, it's going to need some brackets. So out came the angry grinder, some steel and the pillar drill. They've been completed and painted. I love these little jobs! And as I'd dropped it down the back of the workbench and had to retrieve it, I made sure that I wouldn't lose the VIN plate again and fitted it to the car.

 

Oh, and I've taken the alloys to a local blasting firm to tidy them up. They did offer to powdercoat them as well, but sadly my budget doesn't quite run that far. I should pick them up in a couple of weeks and will paint them myself.

 

Strut brackets completed and on the car

 

 

Newly-constructed oil cooler brackets

 

 

And VIN plate is now where I shouldn't be able to lose it...